It Happened One Night Society and Class Quotes

Like donuts, piggybacking stands for simple people and their ways; it's what Ellie hasn't really experienced and has yet to learn. It's a bit ironic, actually, given that the rich could be seen to be "piggybacking" on the hard work of the lower classes.

When Ellie gives the hungry boy on the bus money, Peter's impressed, because she really seems to have undergone a change. She can now see past her own troubles and acknowledge other people's suffering and needs. She can be generous as well as humble. It's almost as if part of the problem with Ellie before this trip was that, surrounded by luxury and other rich people, she never actually saw suffering herself. But when she does see it, she changes her ways.